MPEG-2 is a standard specified by Motion Pictures Expert Group that is commonly used to transport media content (e.g., video and/or audio content) to set-top-box devices and/or other media content access devices (“access devices”). Typically, a media content provider transmits one or more MPEG-2 transport streams carrying media content to one or more access devices, which may receive and process the MPEG-2 transport streams to access media content carried in the streams.
An MPEG-2 transport stream may carry data representative of a single media content program or multiple media content programs. For each media content program in an MPEG-2 transport stream, a single program stream within the transport stream carries data representative of the media content program. The program stream may be associated with a media program channel such that an access device receiving the MPEG-2 transport stream may select the media program channel in order to access the media content program carried in the program stream.
In a conventional MPEG-2 transport stream, each program stream typically includes a combination of a single elementary video stream, one or more elementary audio streams, and one or more elementary data streams that carry video, audio, and other data representative of the media content program carried by the program stream. However, the inclusion of only a single elementary video stream in each program stream limits the options available to an access device and/or a user of the access device accessing a media content program. For example, when an access device selects (e.g., tunes to) a media program channel, the only video content program available to the access device on the selected channel is the single video content program within the single elementary video stream included in the program stream associated with the selected channel. In order to access a different video content program, the access device has to select a different media program channel in the transport stream or in another transport stream received by the access device. However, selecting a different media program channel may not always be desirable. Moreover, providing additional media program channels and/or streams is costly to a media content service provider (e.g., a television service provider).